Author Archives: Mark Schauss

About Mark Schauss

History was always a passion for me since I was a little kid. Even majored in it in college. Loved my Russian history professor, the late Dr. Paul Avrich who inspired this podcast. Also to my mother Alla who kept the Russian side of me going. Wish I had listened to her to learn Russian when I was younger.

Want to Make an Ecological Difference? Stop Buying Bottled Water

When I came upon this bit of information I was astonished and dismayed. Bottled water is not only environmentally bad, it is harmful to third world countries and its people as well.

This coming Monday, February 12th I will be doing a presentation entitled “10 Things You Can Do To Save The Environment And Protect Your Health” at the Rotary Club of Incline Village. My tenth item was about not buying bottled water anymore. Here are the major points. After reading it I bet you will never look at bottled water the same ever again.

  • Let’s take the example of Fiji Water.
  • It is transported 8,700 killometers from Fiji to San Francisco. Imagine the fuel used to transport the water and the bottles (it is bottled in Fiji).
  • The bottles themselves use petrochemicals to manufacture and the plastic for the bottle is transported from China about 7,000 kilometers away requiring more fuel to transport.
  • A bottle that holds 1 liter requires 25 liters of water in its manufacturing process (this includes power plant cooling water).
  • Every bottle takes 1,000 years to biodegrade. More than 50% of the bottled water brands out there simply purchase U.S. municipal reserve water (your tap water) and filter it before bottling it. Then they resell it to you for an average of $5/gallon.
  • Buy a water filter. You’ll save lots of money.
  • One thing that should outrage every Rotarian especially.
    Companies like Coke (Dasani), and Pepsi (Aquafina) have discovered that buying up the drinkable water from some third-world country, bottling their water source and shipping it to you to sell to the U.S., is less expensive than paying for water from the municipal reserve. And they’re buying up the ONLY drinkable water sources in some countries.
  • So every bottle you drink is not just at the expense of the environment, but also at the expense of another somewhere else, who doesn’t have any other water. And you do.
  • Do you wonder why third world countries don’t like us?

Buying bottled water, unless you really need it should embarass you. It is unnecessary and bad for the environment and does nothing to make you any healthier than if you bought a water filter for your kitchen tap and filled a reusable bottle everyday. Come on America, stop being lazy and uncaring and change your habits. You will save money and make the world a better place.

A Rant in Time, May Save the Environment

Today I’m a little peeved. No, make that really angry.  Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of The House is telling everyone she needs a big plane to go from Washington D.C. to California and back because of her position. Now I’m not just a little mad that this will waste taxpayer money, no I’m really mad because this hypocrite who criticized President Bush for his horrible (and it is horrible) environmental track record is going to waste ten’s of thousands of gallons of jet fuel every year because of her position. Hey Nancy, that is just not right.

Al Gore is another one who should talk about the environment while he flies around in a private jet and riding in a gas guzzling limo. I can understand having some privileges in life but holy cow does it have to be so blatant and wasteful? I bet Al Gore’s ecological footprint is the size of a few hundred of us “simple folk.”

If people are going to buy into the whole “save the environment, save the world” issue, our leaders need to step up to the plate and lead by example. Don’t tell me to cut back on my consumption when you waste so much fuel that I couldn’t make up for it if I lived in a cave and never used a bit of energy for the rest of my life.

Lest I sound like a Democrat basher today, the revelation that 87% of Republican Congressmen don’t buy global warming makes me wonder whether we have a mandatory I.Q. test for our representative or whether all you need is a smile, a few million bucks and a friend in some major industry. Hey guys, if you’re right we will be forced to spend money on making our environment better for generations to come and if you’re wrong and we do nothing like you seem to suggest, our coastal cities will be underwater, our environment will be in horrible shape leading to an increase of disease and suffering (and the added expense of dealing with all those sick people) and droughts will wreck havoc with major regions of the world.  Hmmmm.  What should we do?

What Does 200 Calories Look Like and Cost?

Interested in what 200 calories looks like? The differences between a Snickers bar and a plate of broccoli? Well look no further than the WiseGeek website.

How about the cost of 200 calories? Try MyMoneyBlog which uses the same photos as WiseGeek but translates the data into dollars and cents. What is interesting with this data is that cheap calories are just that, cheap. They have little fiber or nutrient content, mostly empty calories which may explain why the poor in our country have such an obesity problem.

Weekly Nutrition Update

Beneficial Effect of Green Tea Extract on Serum and Cardiac Lipids – Aside from its known benefits in protecting you against cancer, turns out green tea extract (GTE) helps improve your lipid makeup which may help reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Policosanol Supplement Found Ineffective in Altering Serum Lipid Profile – While other studies have suggested that policosanol was as effective as statin drugs in improving serum lipids, this study suggested otherwise. A few possible reasons that the results were different

  • is that this study only looked at individuals with mild hypercholesteremia
  • the doses (20 mg/d) were too low
  • the study was too short (8 weeks)

Reduced Form of Coenzyme Q10 – Ubiquinol – Found to be Highly Bioavailable and Safe at Doses up to 300 mg – A complaint from traditional medicine is that nutrients are not tested for safety at high doses. Here is yet another study that begs to differ with that assessment. I have always recommended 100 mg per day of CoQ10 in split doses and here we see safety at three times that amount. Taking CoQ10 should be part of everyone over the age of 40’s regular regime and 100-200 mg’s minimum if you are taking stating drugs.

Dietary Supplementation with Flaxseed Oil May Lower Blood Pressure in Dyslipidemic Men – If you have high blood pressure and have a poor LDL to Total Cholesterol ratio, start taking flaxseed oil. Of course this shouldn’t be the only thing you do (lower your weight, exercise and eat better) but it seems to be a good step in the right direction based on this study.

Dietary Treatments that Raise Low HDL Cholesterol Levels – While this study suggests that soy protein isoflavones are beneficial in raising low LDL levels, it was the additional mention of adding multivitamins to the mix that caught my attention.

Consumption of Trans Unsaturated Fats may Increase the Risk of Ovulatory Infertility – As if we needed another reason to ban trans fats, here is yet another. Given the fact that infertility is at an all time high, is it any wonder that trans fats are being implicated. Taste over sanity I guess.

Low Levels of Coenzyme Q10 May Be Linked to Migraine Headaches in Children and Adolescents – Supplementation with CoQ10 May Help – This one caught me off guard but it did suggest that CoQ10 may be beneficial in treating children with migraines. From what the earlier study showed, adding 50-100 mg’s of CoQ10 is a safe protocol to try out.

Thioctic Acid (Lipoic Acid) May Be Effective in Preventing Migraine Headaches – In this small study lipoic acid was shown to be beneficial in preventing migraine headaches. One interesting thought is that according to Dr. Andrew Cutler , lipoic acid is a good chelator of mercury from the brain which may explain its benefits here.

Supplementation with Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids May Improve Psychological Well-Being in Patients with Recurrent Self-Harm – Long known for psychological benefits, this is just another in a long string of positive studies on the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Supplementation with Calcium + Vitamin D during a Weight-Loss Intervention May Enhance the Beneficial Effect of Weight Loss – You should know my opinion of vitamin D by now so if you need more information and research on its benefits, here is yet another study showing additional benefits not reported previously.

Childhood Trauma and Adult Disease – The Link

Many of us in the healing arts know that trauma suffered while a child, like beatings and molestation can have ramifications down the road. What this study done by researchers at King’s College in London shows is a real definitive link between childhood trauma and adult diseases like heart disease.

What these researchers found was people who were physically or sexually abused, or physically rejected by their mothers at a young age had significantly higher levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein in their blood. What Dr. Andrea Danese said was “Inflammation is a natural response to physical trauma such as cutting yourself or getting an infection, but psychological stress can also trigger inflammation, because stress is really the anticipation of pain.” What constant stress seems to do is inhibit a child’s ability to produce the hormone glucocorticoid which helps the body turn off the inflammatory response.

As Andrew Steptoe noted about the study: “They have elegantly connected childhood stress to a real adult risk of disease.”

Statins and Telomere’s – A Study Worth Listening To

As many of my readers may know by now, I am not the biggest fan of statin drugs, especially in light of the excellent book by Dr. John Abramson, Overdo$ed America . But I must admit there is some data showing benefits of taking this drug in some cases. Now, researchers may have found a key indicator which can target the drug use to the right people and not just trying it on everyone.

Published in the January 13, 2007 issue of the British medical journal The Lancet , authors Brouilette, Moore, and McMahon, et al, report that middle aged men with shorter telomere lengths benefit the most from statin treatment. Telomeres are the ends of chromosomal DNA. While not fully understood, these strands seemingly are involved in the maintenance of cellular stability. As they get shorter, your cellular biologic clock winds down and your cells begin to die.

Basically the authors propose that testing for leukocyte telomere length is advisable given the data they uncovered. I would not oppose such an idea but I’m sure the harmaceutical (spelling is intentional) industry would object because it might lower the number of users and cut back on their ridiculous profit margins.

One side note; wouldn’t it be smarter and more logical to lead a healthier life in the first place, taking adequate supplements, especially omega-3 fatty acids, b-complex nutrients and other life enriching compounds that to wait until you need artificial drugs to prop up an unhealthy body?

Fight on the Hill – Will Big Pharma Get the Tide Turned on Them

Ever since the Republican’s have had control over the House and Senate, as well as the White House, Big Pharma has received a lot of benefits, which in my opinion have been undeserved and unwarranted. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 was a gift to the industry to the tune of more than $8 billion dollars of additional profit according to the January 13, 2007 issue of The Lancet . Since the top ten harmaceutical companies half-year profits in 2006 were a staggering $38 billion, this seems utterly ridiculous.

This opinion piece is not meant to bash a political party. Lord knows they both deserve bashing. What I do have a gripe with is how the Republicans have unabashedly pandered themselves to Big Pharma’s deep pockets. That party received more than 2/3rd’s of the industry’s campaign contributions annually. They spent more than $800 million lobbying Congress and the rest of the Federal government agencies since 1998.

Well, you might ask, they have been creating a bunch of life saving drugs with all the research they’ve been doing, right? Poppycock I say. According to the General Accounting Office, their R & D spending went up by 147% from 1993 to 2004 but new-drug applications only went up 38% in that time frame. Not only that, but the number has been dropping since 1996. If you call Viagra, Cialis and Levitra life saving drugs, well maybe I’m wrong.

In reality, in 2007, there are relatively few new drugs in the pipeline. the industry is in legal battles because of their patent dishonesty when it came to potential side-effects of their drugs (Vioxx, Zypreza to name a few).

The Democrats have already begun the introduction of bills requiring Medicare drug price negotiation, something the Republican backed bill of 2003 forbade. Other bills such as increasing the availability of generics, importation of cheaper drugs from Canada and improved after approval monitoring of existing drugs seem to be on their way. While my faith in politicians is similar to my faith in dinosaurs suddenly appearing at my two young daughter’s elementary school, I do hope a change of climate in Washington D.C. will begin to pull back bad policy decisions made over the past 13 years.

Imagine a Cancer Drug That Kills All Cancers. Too Bad You Can’t Get It.

Imagine if you will that there is a drug that would kill almost any type of cancer, has very few side-effects and is relatively cheap. Actually, you don’t need to imagine it as it does exist and it’s called dichloroacetate or DCA. The problem is no pharmaceutical company will touch it because they can’t patent it and they can’t make ridiculous amounts of money on it. So much for compassionate corporations eh?

What DCA does is cause cancer cells to switch from using glycolysis to generate energy back to using the mitochondria for energy production. This causes the cells to revert from their immortal cancerous state where they commit suicide (apoptosis).

One problem with the drug is that it changes the way researchers need to look at cancer. Instead of being caused by a genetic mutation, they would have to change their point of way and admit that metabolism can spark cancer. My old mentor told me that the real definition of cancer is the abnormal growth and rate of growth of cells. Nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately, cancer research is a big business and imagine the problem that would arise if we had a simple and inexpensive answer to many cancers? Lots of jobless researchers I guess.

After reading about this drug in the British journal New Scientist last week I think we need to change the name of drug companies from pharmaceuticals to harmaceuticals. The tag fits them better.

Nutrition Update for the Week of January 29th, 2007

Augmenting Zinc Supplementation with Vitamins A and D May Increase Plasma Concentrations of Zinc: Implications for Alzheimer ‘s Disease and Other Diseases – In this study, researchers found that when zinc was combined with vitamins A and D, plasma zinc went up faster than and higher than any other combination tried. This is significant especially with the elderly who are notorious for being zinc deficient.

Increased Dietary Intake of Omega-3 PUFAs from Plant Sources May Improve Bone Health – This study suggest that supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids may improve bone health via a reduction in bone resorption. Yet another reason to take at least 1 gram of omega-3’s daily (3 grams would be even better in my opinion).

Maternal Intake of Folic Acid During Early Pregnancy May Lower Risk of Isolated Cleft Lip (with or without cleft palate) in Infants – Cleft palate is a tough disease to go through as it requires multiple surgeries in many cases to correct. Taking a nominal amount of folic acid every day (400 micrograms) has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of an infant developing a cleft palate. One word of caution, there is some evidence that too much folate (over 2 milligrams daily) may increase the risk of having a child with cleft palate. Doing a simple organic acid in urine test from MetaMetrix can give you a strong clue if you are folate deficient. The marker they use is formiminoglutamic acid or FIGLU for short.

Elevated Homocysteine and Low Folate May Exert a Negative Effect on Specific Cognitive Domains – Yet another reason to supplement with folic acid. Test yourself for homocysteine as early in life as possible and work on lowering it. The blood test is available through many major labs and should become a standard of care.

Green Tea may Alleviate Diabetes in Rodents – One of the active ingredients in green tea, ECGC, is beginning to get a lot of good press, especially in the treatment of obesity. In this study, it seems to be beneficial in treating diabetes.

Association between Low Plasma Vitamin D and Type 1 Diabetes in Young Adults – As my regular readers know, I am a big vitamin D fan and this study just keeps my enthusiasm going. Get yourself a bottle and take at least 800 IU’s a day in the winter, spring and fall and 400 IU’s in the summer.

Supplementation with Korean Red Ginseng May Improve Glucose and Insulin Regulation in Subjects with Well-Controlled Type 2 Diabetes – This is another in a string of studies I have read that show benefits of ginseng with diabetes.

Choline: Critical Role During Fetal Development and Dietary Requirements in Adults – Choline is one of those great brain nutrients that may have a lot of other benefits including the reduction of homocysteine via its conversion into the essential amino acid methionine.

Come back next week for another update and don’t forget to go to Vitasearch for more details on the studies reviewed here today.

Internet Browsers – You’ve Got to Get Rid of Explorer

After years of frustration, I finally dumped Microsoft’s Internet Explorer which should be renamed into Internet Deplorer. It bombs all the time, it is spyware’s favorite browser and it just doesn’t work as well as most of its competitors. I’ve tried Opera and liked it but not enough to make the switch. The browser I decided on is Firefox.

This browser is as easy to use as you can imagine and it has a boat load of excellent add-ons. My favorite is Stumble! After you download it (after you get Firefox, it asks you which add-ons you want), it asks you what fields of interest you have. When you’re done with that just hit the Stumble! button and it randomly selects sites from around the world for you to enjoy. Give it a thumbs up or down and they will begin to learn what your real interests are.

You can easily import all of your valuable bookmarks from Explorer in a few seconds.

The other must have add-on is Cooliris. When you drag your cursor over to an internet link on any web site, a little blue box appears. Drag your cursor over to it and a separate temporary window appears that allows you to see the link without opening another tab or window.

All in all, I heartily recommend you dump Explorer and start using Mozilla’s Firefox. You’ll be absolutely thrilled you did.